Gray Skies, Rising Waters

For the first time, I saw my work place being converted into a relief centre. Arrived at school this morning to find this... blankets, carpets hanging to dry on the raillings! Yesterday night 40+ flood evacuees made their way to our classrooms. This will be their temporary home until the flood waters recede. A whole floor had been cleared as makeshift 'home'.

A shirtless pakcik was seen walking around the school in the morning and it was rather amusing... to see impropriety co-existing side by side with strict dressing codes. LOL!

Water level has been rising and in some low lying areas, the river banks have burst. Many villages are now technically flooded. This morning as I was driving to work, I noticed that many of the areas beside the river are now inundated. And in the evening, as I drove back from town the river in town is also definitely higher than the day before. In some places it is near breaching point. Hopefully it'll subside.

In the morning, one of my colleagues said her house in the kampung was already surrounded by water the night before. At noon the water level was still rising. Places like Langgar now look like lakes. And the water continues to flow from 'upstream' unabated. It seems Hatyai is also experiencing some flooding now. The last round of a bad flood was in 2005. Then, Jitra town literally became like New Orleans as it also sits in a bowl. That year, the flood was without rain. In a matter of hours, the whole town was flooded.

Anyway, experts are warning that the worse may yet to come as the strong Siberian winds from the north are expected to blow in more rains.

This was lunch time. I feel sorry for the evacuees. The new toilets in this new block don't function properly. They broke down within the first year of operations.... speaks volumes about the quality of our construction work, especially gahmen related projects.

But this once, Sekolahku is indeed Rumahku. How can one tell? All along the stairways, I see a trail of biscuit crumbs. Small children and their trails.... LOL!

My Christmas Tree Has Shrunken!

My soon-to-be-not-so-little girl put up the Christmas tree rather early this year.. on the 4th November, to be exact. Usually it will only come up once school hols begins. And school hols is not set to start for another fortnight. And Son is not in the get-the-tree-up mood this year as he's sitting for his big exam. She was down with flu and we kept her at home, thinking it would be a good rest for her. But when I came back from work, lo and behold, the Christmas tree was all up.

She spent the whole morning putting up the tree with her aunty. I notice that this year my Christmas tree has shrunken. Cos my little girl has grown much taller. The Christmas tree has been her domain these last few years... she'd be the one all excited about taking it and all its deco out. It gives her hours of pleasure just getting the tree up!

This year, she took it out early cos she wanted her teacher to enjoy the lights with her... Shin Hui has been good for the girls. Learning has been fun for her and my neighbour's girl. They look forward to her lessons cos she made the lessons fun, almost like play. I think they'll miss the hide-n-seek games with her. It's with a tinge of sadness that I write this as she is asking for a transfer home next year. It's been a good year for the girls..... They'll miss her for sure. And me too cos this friendship from the volleyball court has extended itself into our daily lives and as a result, also been a blessing for these girls.... but I am wishing her the very best for her future.

Coming back to the tree.. it seems so much smaller this year. Last year, it looked kinda big. The year before it looked kinda huge... but this year it looks small, almost like a 'baby' tree. My baby girl is growing up and soon the growing pains of teenage years will hit. But for now, we'll enjoy her just a little bit more.... and she's been spending every night sitting (and sometimes lying) by the tree with all the house lights off and the tree lighted up. For a little kid in her little uncomplicated world, blinking Christmas lights can still be a wondrous experience.

Makan-Makan @ 5 Utara in Jitra

This restaurant basically serves Thai food and they're quite good. They used to be located next to Lye Huat Stone Garden but relocated to Jitra town some years back.

Now it's located right at the junction of the main traffic light in town.

I occasionally go there for makan with friends and sometimes Other Half if we are in the vicinity. What is nice here. Well, the kaeng som for one. Had that with my volleyball (and badminton) friends the other day.

I was there again last Thursday... for lunch. It was a spur on the moment decision. So after school me and my 2 friends went there. It was already way past 2 when we arrived but there was still a small crowd there. Goes to show that there not that many restaurants in Jitra.

I had been thinking about the 'claypot' tanghoon with prawns since our makan the other day. The claypot is actually a metal pot. Anyway, the prawns were big and fresh enough. There were more than enough for the 3 of us.

We also had the phat pet catfish (ikan keli) with long beans. This dish is rather spicy but appetizing. With hot rice, it's quite nice. The catfish was fried to crispiness before being stir fried in phat pet style.

And this.. kangkung (spinach) coated with batter flour deep fried. It's kinda like tempura style but not as light cos they can't seem to shake off the oiliness. But it's nice as finger food; to dip in the chilli or tomato sauce.

You can have coconut fresh from the fruit and also coconut jelly (as in jelly in the coconut fruit) for desert here. All 3 of us had both. I was greedier... I had a whole coconut jelly all to myself.

Two straight days of binging... the day before I took Son, Daughter and Jovaynne out for Japanese food cos I wanted to eat oysters!

One thing though... saw some Pegawai Penguatkuasa Jitra at the shop. They must be going after the proprietor for the awning extended behind the shop. But I always wonder why these Pegawai Penguatkuasa who seems so efficient in certain places never go after those stalls erected haphazardly in many of the housing areas in Jitra. They don't seem to be consistent in carrying out their enforcement.

Thankful For Distractions

These past few weeks have been filled with enough distractions to fill a year but I am glad for them. At a time when I needed some breathing space, there were enough activities to keep me occupied, to the point of exhaustion if I may add. It's like a holiday for the mind. LOL!

It started with a whole week of sun and tan... it's a little crazy, I know but it gave all of us something other than just the 4 walls and students to face. Routine and boring.

And despite the best of intentions, things aren't what they seem. As a result trust suffered a big dent. I was naive on 2 fronts. So where I used to tread freely, I now know there actually exist clear boundaries. I wish I had known earlier but how could I when I was led to believe otherwise. But I see the good of knowing than not.

But then the excitement of the games... the adrenaline highs. And FB allowed the sizzles of the euphoria of winning to last a little longer. It made me appreciate that I can still do the things that I do... these things which I take for granted, but should not. Our time line is exhaustible.

After that was back to catching up with work; and there was quite a bit of it. I had to turn down a request from an old friend to go to Langkawi to do some writing for the coming week. Sorry, old friend. 8( Would have been great to be able to catch up.

Events out of the usual continue to pop up, and for that I am thankful cos it has allowed me to move out of my disillusionment and move on. Nothing is permanent and I've come to accept that quite readily.... Even life is temporary! 8)

I kinda liked what one of the young people wrote.....

.....the one true person you can rely on is none other than God. Of course, family and friends play a super duper important role, but nothing can beat having a someone who is omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient. Someone permanent....

.......that's from Sarah

Distractions... never thought I'd be thankful for them but thankful I am! 8)

Cakap bukan-bukan

Other Half has been asking how come so many titles with Bahasa Malaysia... dunno, flavour of the week, I guess... 8) Maybe I should start writing more in BM also. I am after all very at home with it also. 8)

Ever since I wrote the piece on say what you mean, I've been paying more attention to my own words as well as others. And it's been an interesting observation...

Many of us like to 'simply talk' or cakap bukan-bukan. There was this one day when a friend of mine said something she didn't mean... we were talking about dancing as a leisure activity and how it has wrecked many marriages. Anyway, she blurted out something which I know she wouldn't like but said would be okay with her. I took her to task and pushed for what was said and after a while guess what? My friend got annoyed... even in her annoyance, she continued saying it was okay. And it amuses me in the sense that we are often like this. Why do we do it? Say all these things we don't mean? Sometimes we want to show that we are in control or maybe boast a little... reasons abound.

We say (and sometimes do) a lot of bukan-bukan but only for as long it suits us or if we feel we can get away with it. It makes us feel good for various reasons. I see my students getting out of control in classes with many of my colleagues. Many of these start with the cakap-cakap bukan-bukan or merapu but they often get out of control because after a while, the words said take on a life of their own. Even a well-behaved student can get out of control. Simple reasons.. we begin to believe our own words after some time. Our friends believe those words too. Before long you become the words you mouth. Add that to teachers who also don't mean what they say... you have double jeopardy! Students go lagi sesat! I kinda wish we have Mr. Moses Tay's style of disciplining...

I've got watch more on what I say, I realize. It's not what goes into the mouth that defiles us. It's what comes out of it. Like it or not, we are held accountable over what comes out from our mouths. We will be judged by what we say.

In these last couple of weeks, it's become clearer that very often what comes out of our mouths portray us to be people with double standards. Cakap sama bikin... banyak susah!

Ayahanda, oh ayahanda.....

There are school heads who refer to themselves as Ayahanda or Bonda to the students. You have one school starting and the rest soon follow suit. I don't know but maybe they find it chic. Schools also ape and compete with each other. 8) Anyway, this Ayahanda Pengetua or Bonda Pengetua thing is probably another attempt to project a caring image.

I don't quite take to the use of such terms cos I think they demean the concept of mom and dad. What does a dad do? The image in my head says this.... He goes out to work and brings home the dole to put food on the table, clothes on our back and whatever other things that the children need.

So, if you call yourself an Ayahanda or Bonda to the students, shouldn't you be doing that also? We are called Principals and Teachers principally because we are supposed to fulfill the task of educating those kids who are placed in an institution called school. Mom and dad?? They belong to the institution called home.

Moms and dads have their duties too... and I think we should not get confused over it.

I always wonder why they don't even want to use the term Ayah or Ibu (Bu) which strips the formality and 'nobility' out and probably make them sound more like your everyday mom and dad. Could it be maybe the terms Ayahanda or Bonda, probably also subtly remind us that like the orang istana, they have the orang suruhan to do the taking care of the students. Cos seriously, do you think a Royal would actually soil his/her hands to wash their baby's poo? Real moms and dads do that, don't they? But then again, with kakak (maid) these days, they also don't. LOL!

So, I wish they would just cut out the show of such terms and get down to the job of being heads. We need good, upright and principled Principals; not Mom or Dad to run the school. Else we might just as well home-school our kids. School is school... so is home, home. We should cut out all the pretenses and get down to the real business of educating and teaching....

Penumpang...

Penumpang is Bahasa Malaysia for passengers.

Was at a shop the other day and listened in to a conversation between the proprietor and his customer. I was not privy to the first part of the conversation which was before I entered the shop. But he said something about us Chinese shouldn't get angry when being told that we're penumpang in this world. The tone of his voice caught my attention.. and I made it a point to listen to the ongoing conversation while picking up my stuff.

I guess his other customer must have insinuated something when he mentioned this penumpang thingy cos the next thing he said was, if the Malays (Malays are synonymous to Muslims to Malaysia) believe this penumpang concept to be true, then the corruption and all the mismanagement and poor governance also should not be an issue. Cos they too are penumpang in this world. They too have a destination. And how they act in their journey too will have an effect on which destination they end up.

Penumpang(s) we are, and that is undeniable. Where are we heading? Where is our destination? If we are clear about that, then we won't be seeing the left hand committing wrongs and the right hand giving out alms... but then again, this might be too theological for many to stomach. Used to be God, then family, community and self, in that order of importance. These days, it's Self, Family (???), Community... if possible no God in the order. So, everything boils down to self justification... so right hand bagi rasuah, left hand give alms.... both pun charity.

If we are not prepared to be wrong...

What does this actually mean - if we're not prepared to be wrong? I remember years ago, I was only a rookie in my job. One day my new boss came up to me and asked whether I knew how to use the computer. Back in the 1990s, most people were still computer illiterate. I said I was okay with it... 8) Actually I had a good back-up in my Other Half! LOL!

In the ensuing weeks, as he talked more to me, he started throwing ideas at me. Finally, one day he asked me if I could set up a media room using computers as the main teaching aid. I said I would go back and think about it. He came back to me a couple of days later and I told him I thought it was possible. But I needed money... quite a large sum in fact, to work with. I expected him to say it would be difficult but he surprised me and got a cheque written out for the sum that I requested. I spent the next few weeks procuring the equipment. And a couple of months later, we had one of the first media room with a LCD projector. He was prepared to be wrong with me... I may not have delivered. But instead of focusing on the possibility that I might bungle up, he chose to take the risk.... I owe him much of my professional development.

If he had not prepared to be wrong, I would probably not have gone into all these stuff to do with computers. This path led me to various courses at various institutions for the next couple of years and it gave me the exposure of possibilities beyond my wildest imagination... and he fought for me to be included, despite he getting stares from his own counterparts. You see, at most of these courses, there would be very few Chinese. He was truly colour blind! It spurred me on to pick up more related skills and today those skills have enabled me to do things which I'd never have imagined 20 years ago!

With our kids and the crazy number of tuitions that they are attending now, with our hectic family life, relationships in and out of the home, in matters of faith, at work... I think this same principle applies. If we are not prepared to be wrong, we'll never know what our kids can achieve or whether an idea we have will bear fruits, or even if our leap into faith will effect that sort of change in our lives.... if we are not prepared to be wrong, then very often, we'll never know. And sometimes that in itself condemns us to losing everything in the end.